Integrity and Quality in Universities: Accountability, Excellence and Success

• Main Author: Onora O'Neill
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2015-02-01
• Series: Humanities
• Subjects: university accountability; metrics and quality control; rankings; excellence and success; informed and independent judgment in accountability
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/4/1/109

The essay focuses on the tension between the integrity of a university’s ideal or mission (academic freedom, innovation, excellence in research and teaching) and approaches to accountability that are used to monitor performance and to establish criteria for university funding. The paper examines evaluation systems and the distorting effects of the incentives some of them create, especially when different metrics are combined in order to rank academic institutions. Such league tables prioritise comparative success rather than excellence, which is not a positional good. Yet better forms of accountability are possible. Some simple aspects of academic and educational achievements can be measured reasonably accurately and are less open to manipulation. These include hours of study, standards of writing, and the amount of feedback on written work received by students.